For A Star To Fall

Chapter 1: My Precious Star

Chapter 1

Breathe.

Just breathe.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Faster now.

Adrenaline pumping—

Go.

Emyle’s feet hit the road with satisfying thuds. Thump. Thump. Thump. Like the beating of a heart.

She could hear shouts behind her. Sirens wailing. Lights flashing.

Gritting her teeth, she increased her pace. She was at a full-out sprint now, racing against time.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Her feet were still moving, still thudding against the hard, gravel road. Emyle knew that she needed to run faster, get away before they caught her.

More thuds sounded behind her. Shouting could be heard. “Hurry! She’s getting away! Moving towards the city now. Send the trucks!”

The trucks. They would send the trucks. Those vehicles would catch up to her in no time. She would never escape if they sent the trucks.

Getting away now was the only solution. Getting away and hiding so they would never find her again, never find them again. Yes, that was what she had to do.

Emyle looked up. There was an incline in the road ahead. She had already memorized the map and the road leading here. There was a slope down after the incline, then a fairly straight road running towards the city. Once she got into the city, they would stop chasing her. They knew that they would never find her there.

She also knew exactly what would happen after. When they lost her, they would proceed to send out their tracker hounds to search the buildings and the surrounding area for her scent. The entire place would be combed through for any fingerprints. The videos taken by all the security cameras would be replayed and scrutinized carefully. All the faces of the people that entered and exited that night would be run through the system and the people interrogated.

Every resource would be used to identify who she was, what she wanted, how she got in, where she would have already disappeared to by then. But Emyle knew that they would find nothing. Their plan had been flawless, and there was no way they would be able to garner any information about them that night. The only thing left to do was to run and escape.

They would search anyways, she knew. They had absolutely no idea what they were dealing with that night. And still they would try, albeit in vain. Search and search, until they eventually gave up.

They would search hard, especially after they realize what she had taken from them.

Heavy breathing behind her. The security team was catching up. It was inevitable, really, given the fact that they were so much stronger and faster than her. Putting on a final burst of speed, Emyle sprinted up the incline and skidded down the slope. The city lay just ahead, lights shining, its people still working at that time of night.

There was a building that she knew about, located right at the edge of the city, perfect for their uses. It was abandoned, dilapidated, and so old that it looked like it could collapse any moment. No one had ever given it a second glance.

Father was waiting there. Emyle would get in and he would protect her. She would be safe.

But she had to reach the building first. It was only a short distance away, a few more seconds’ worth of running. The lights were on inside. Father was waiting. She could not disappoint him.

Hands grabbed at her jacket from behind. They were pulling at her and she was slowing down. Her right hand tightened around the object that was now wrapped in cloth. She could not let them get it back. Father had said that their first priority was to get it out of their despicable hands, even if it meant losing it themselves.